22 Million Nigerians Now On Facebook Says Ebele Okobi

Popular social media platform, Facebook, has disclosed that over 22 million Nigerians now use its space every month, with 87 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) utilising it for digital skills and more.

This was disclosed recently by the public policy director, Facebook Africa, Ebele Okobi, during the launch of its Nigerian initiative to reinforce its commitment and investment in the country, and across the continent.

According to her, Facebook’s mission was to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. And this demonstrates that the power of digital skills to aid economic growth and development has never been more important.

“Our investments and commitments announced in Lagos today further reflect our intent to partner with Nigeria’s policymakers and its vibrant tech and entrepreneurial eco-system to create economic opportunity and independence in Nigeria and across Africa,” she said.

Okobi disclosed that Facebook plans to launch a hub intiative early next year.

“Facebook believes that, for it to be relevant and people to be connected, everyone needs to collaborate to actualise a closer community. Facebook’s vision of fostering a close community would result in the hub training over 50,000 people across Nigeria in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Lagos,” she said.

The multi-faceted creative hub would be In partnership with CC Hub, and it is expected to connect and bring together developers, start-ups and the wider community to collaborate, learn and share ideas. The “ng-hub” will also host a start-up incubator programme, as well as bespoke training, guest speakers and a dedicated event space, with an intent of attracting the best talent and driving innovation in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem.

Also, head of platform partnerships, Middle East and Africa, Emeka Afigbo, said, “Nigeria is producing a new generation of exciting start-ups that have incredible potential.

“We understand the important role Facebook plays here in Nigeria with developers and start-ups and are invested in helping these communities build for the next billion,” he said.